Electrochemical epitaxial polymerization of single-molecular wires HIROSHI SAKAGUCHI, HISASHI MATSUMURA and HUI GONG Published online: 11 July 2004 | doi:10.1038/nmat1176
We demonstrate a unique single-molecular processing technique using electrochemistry, termed 'electrochemical epitaxial polymerization'. This technique is based on step-by-step electropolymerization of the monomer by applying voltage pulses to a monomerミelectrolyte solution that also contains iodine. Using this technique, we observe the formation of high- density arrays of single conjugated-polymer wires as long as 75 nm on the surface of a Au(111) electrode. Our findings unveil the mechanism of electropolymerization, showing that the conjugated polymer wires grow from nuclei adsorbed on the iodine-covered Au(111) surface.